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Akira class
Type: Heavy Cruiser Length: 465 meters Beam: 317 meters Draft: 87 meters Decks: 19 Mass: 3,055,000 metric tons Crew: 535 Maximum Speed: Warp 9.3 Armament: 3 Type-X phaser arrays; 15 photon torpedo launchers Defenses: Deflector shields The Akira-class starship is a heavy cruiser used by Starfleet since 2368. Akira class vessels featured prominently in the 2373 Borg attack on Earth and in the Dominion War. The Akira class ships carry an extremely heavy torpedo armament of no less than 15 photon torpedo tubes. Seven of these are mounted in the large roll bar pod, all facing forwards; the remaining eight are located in the saucer section, two of which face directly out to port and starboard - an unusual feature in a Starfleet vessel. Another unusual feature of the Akira class is the shuttlebay arrangements. There are two large shuttlebays in the saucer section, one at the forward edge of the saucer section and one at the rear. Ships of the Class *[[USS Akira|USS Akira, NCC-62497)]] *[[USS Rabin|USS Rabin, NCC-63574]] *[[USS Thunderchild|USS Thunderchild, NCC-63549]] *[[USS Spector|USS Spector, NCC-65549]] *NCC-63646 Background Information The Akira Class was designed by Alex Jaeger of ILM in 1996 for the movie Star Trek VIII: First Contact. The ship currently only exists as a CGI. The Akira is most notable as the inspiration for the design of the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01), the central ship of Star Trek's fifth series of the same name. It is named after the Japanese anime film. The Akira-class starship is one of the more controversial ships that has appeared on Star Trek. Originally appearing in Star Trek: First Contact, the design caught the attention of eagle-eyed fans studying the fleeting images of the [[USS Thunderchild|USS Thunderchild]]'s attack on the Borg cube. Despite its impressive appearance, though, some incongruities leave room for heated debate. A design sketch of the Akira shows the vessel bearing the registry NCC-2497. The Star Trek fact files just added a 6 to this registry. Registry Number The first issue in question is the ship's registry number. The most visible representative of the class, the [[USS Thunderchild|USS Thunderchild]], had a registry of NCC-63549 and a noticeable appearance more in line with later ships like the ''Intrepid'' class and the ''Sovereign'' class. To those fans who believe in chronological assignment of registries, the Thunderchild 's low number requires some explanation, since it would put the design somewhere before the [[Galaxy class| Galaxy class]]. Armament Second is the class's armament. Designer Alex Jaeger stated in a Star Trek: The Magazine interview that he created the Akira as a sort of "carrier/gunship," armed with an astounding 15 photon torpedo launchers: "This was my gunship/battlecruiser/aircraft carrier. It has 15 torpedo launchers and two shuttlebays - one in front, with three doors, and one in the back. I really got into it with this one, with the whole idea that the front bay would be the launching bay, and then to return they'd come into the back, because they'd be protected by the rest of the ship." - Alex Jaeger (designer), Star Trek The Magazine, Issue 2 (July 1999), page 48, "Designing the Akira Class" For many starship buffs, that figure is simply too large to be credible when considered alongside other Starfleet ships. Length Third is the overall length of the ship. * Star Trek Encyclopedia II: 400-460m * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual: 464.43m * VFX size according to a post (January 20, 1998) in Newsgroup alt.tv.star-trek.ds9 by David Stipes, VFX Supervisor DS9: 860' = 262.13m (Stipes' figure represents the length used when blocking shots in DS9) Apocrypha * The Decipher Role-Playing Games include several Akira-class starships including:- USS Geronimo (NCC-62501), USS Osceola (NCC-62743), USS Black Elk (NCC-62878), USS Nez Perce (NCC-62891), USS Mateo (NCC-63302), USS Red Cloud (NCC-63306), and USS Susquehanna (NCC-63419). * The Activision PC Game "Star Trek: Bridge Commander" includes the USS Devore (NCC-64088), USS Geronimo (NCC-69302), and USS Kali. * The Activision PC Game "Star Trek: Armada" includes the USS Jupiter (NCC-71267) and USS Templar. * Star Trek: Dominion Wars includes the USS Singh. * Star Trek: Away Team includes the USS Leyte Gulf (NCC-71427). * The USS Sentinel mentioned in (DS9: "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River") is described as an Akira-class starship that Lt. Commander Sonya Gomez served on during the Dominion War, according to (Pocket SCE: "War Stories, Book I") References Internal Star Trek: First Contact, Dominion War, NX class External *DITL has a very complete list of specs on the Akira class, but not all specs are canon. *Ex Astris Scientia contains detailed notes and articles on the Akira class. *Gilso Star Trek Schematics shows schematics of the Akira class with additional information. *Pedro's Shiporama shows a lot of photo's and screenshots of the Akira class. *Star Ship Schematics shows schematics of the Akira class. *Star Trek Intelligence features specs and some photo's, but not all specs are canon. *Stephen Pugh's vessels of Star Fleet offers contructive criticism and a very complete list of known Akira class vessels. *The Star Trek Archive shows all ''Akira''s seen on screen or of screen. *SFCHQ summarizes information on the Akira class from numerous sources. de:Akira-Klasse Category:Starship classes